Texas A&M’s (1-1) road trip to Miami last weekend took a turn for the worst after initially leading 17-7 in the second quarter before Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke took control of the game, hitting WR Isaiah Horton on a 52-yard bomb to bring the game within three points and ended up outscoring the Aggies 41-17 in the second half behind five touchdowns from Van Dyke.
Sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman wasn’t the problem by any means, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns while playing with old-school toughness and grit, all while being blitzed on 33 of his 57 dropback attempts. In comparison, WR Evan Stewart led the team in receiving with 11 receptions for 142 yards.
Defensively, second-year defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin is under fire after one of the worst performances in the last five years, as the Hurricanes averaged 17.8 yards a completion and 8.4 yards per play behind Van Dyke’s 374 yards through the air, mostly due to poor coverage and a ton of missed tackles.
While most of these issues can be fixed, Texas A&M’s defense has not improved under Durkin compared to current Duke head coach Mike Elko, who served as the Aggies defensive coordinator for four seasons (2018-2021).
Nevertheless, Texas A&M will now take on the visiting UL Monroe Warhawks, who look to “ground and pound” their way to an upset victory. Still, I expect this Aggie team to not only take out their frustrations after last weekend’s lapse but finally show some discipline on defense and continue to gel on the offensive line ahead of SEC play. However, for any of this to happen, the players and coaching staff need to instill a sense of urgency to accomplish their still attainable goals.
Ahead of Week 3, here are the five Texas A&M players to watch before Texas A&M vs. UL Monroe.